The appearance of bags in the lower eye contour is a common cosmetic problem occurring when the skin of the lower eyelid is slightly swollen and hangs. The skin surrounding the eyes is relatively thin and has less oily composition than many other areas of the skin. For this reason, aging, stress, different illnesses and environmental pollution can show their first symptoms with a swelling of the lower eyelids and the appearance of bags due to the loss of firmness and elasticity of the skin which is located under the eyes. Fluid accumulation under the skin in the area located under the eyes gives rise to an edema which is shown as swollen eyes, frequently darker in comparison to surrounding facial areas (“dark circles”), which the consumer perceives as unacceptable or anti-aesthetic.
Up until now, the exact reasons for which anti-aesthetic under-eye bags are formed are not known, but different external factors such as stress, excessive caffeine or alcohol consumption and lack of sleep have been identified as associated factors or inducers of the problem. Likewise, the literature has described internal factors contributing to the formation of under-eye bags such as kidney malfunction and fluid retention, high blood pressure, inflammation, allergic components (allergic rhinitis) or lymphatic drainage alteration. Intrinsic skin aging, orbicular muscle relaxation as well as damage caused by ultraviolet radiation must also be considered together with these factors.
As the skin loses its elasticity and the muscles weaken with age, flaccid skin can accumulate around the eyes, forming folds in the eyelids. Furthermore, the fat accommodating and supporting the eyes in their sockets tends to move towards the outside of the eye cavities and to accumulate around the eyes in the form of bulging eyes. Swollen or bulging eyelids can be due to an accumulation of fat in the orbicular area as well as to an accumulation of flaccid skin of said area.
With the aim of recovering a young and a non-fatigued appearance of the facial expression, cosmetic surgery is frequently used to remove under-eye bags (blepharoplasty), in a process consisting of making internal and external incisions in the eyelids with the aim of removing the excess accumulated fat and/or skin. Blepharoplasty is currently the process that is most frequently carried out by plastic surgeons in the United States [Castro, E. and Foster, J. A. (1999) Upper lid blepharoplasty Facial Plast. Surg. 15 (3), 173-181]. However, despite the fact that said surgery is considered to be a minor surgical process, it is a technique that is not risk-free, due to the associated risks of the anesthesia used in the intervention as well as the risks of potential post-operative infections. Therefore, there is still a need to find a simple, effective and risk-free solution for reducing and removing under-eye bags.